People have long been generating self-prescribed listings of personal interests. For example, questionnaires sometimes ask a person to list interests such as types of activities the person likes to perform, types of food the person likes to eat, and so forth. This information may be useful to better understand the person.
Although many people generate accurate listings of their interests, some people may exaggerate or misrepresent their interests by including (or excluding) interests in a list of interests. For example, a person may list hobbies to include rock climbing, surfing, and running, but may in fact only actively participate in surfing and running. The person may also neglect to list another activity (e.g., playing volleyball, etc.) for various possible reasons.
Personal interest information may be helpful in various contexts. Besides advertising and marketing, personal interest information is often used in social networking sites to help describe a person. In addition, match-making sites (e.g., dating sites) may use some personal interest information when determining which people may be compatible across various types of activities and/or interests.